Green Lantern

Today’s review is for a movie that’s been out for just over a week, now, Green Lantern.  It’s based on the DC Comics character of the same name.  It stars Ryan Reynolds (Buried, The Nines) as Hal Jordan and Blake Lively (Gossip Girl, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) as Carol Ferris, Hal’s love interest.  Peter Sarsgaard (In the Electric Mist, The Skeleton Key) plays Hector Hammond, the mad scientist who throws his lot in with the big bad, Parallax (voiced by Clancy Brown; Carnival, Highlander).  And Mark Strong (Robin Hood, Sunshine) is Sinestro, head of the Green Lantern Corps.

Reynolds is in his element as the conflicted hero who always has a witty comeback until he’s overwhelmed by the situation and Lively is charming as the woman who wants to stay away from the man who frustrates and angers her, even though she can’t.  Sarsgaard also does a good job, with somewhat cliché and cheesy dialogue.  The movie starts out well, giving us a detailed enough introduction to Hal that we know his character and know what he will do even if he doesn’t.  Above all, the movie looks excellent.  The effects are very realistic (in context) and everything looks like it came straight out of the comic book.

And therein lies a large part of the problem.  What works in comic books doesn’t always translate well on screen, coming across as cheesy and unbelievable.  This is at many points true here, especially when it comes to the ring’s physical effects.  There are many places when it is used more subtly and to greater effect, such as when one of the Green Lanterns use his ring to fly.

The other problem is one that many comic book movies seem to run into, a problem of too much in too short a time.  Most of the titles out there have been around for so long that there is a great deal of history behind them, too much so to put into a single movie.  Because of this, the movie seems rushed, somewhat forced and stilted.  It doesn’t help that the scenes are somehow disjointed; for all that they go to telling the same story, there seems to be no through-line to connect them.  In one scene, the camera cuts back and forth between Hal’s trying to figure out how the ring and lantern work, and Hammond’s autopsy of the alien Green Lantern.  While Hal’s scene is realistic and Hammond’s is important to tell the story, neither one needs to be in the movie and the cutting back and forth adds to the disjointed feel.  The director, Martin Campbell, is responsible for Casino Royale, as well as both Zorro movies.  His successes there do not translate well here.

Green Lantern is, in my opinion, not a complete waste of time.  It is a fun and beautiful movie, perhaps best saved for DVD and a night of mindless entertainment at home.